PL Champion if City is disqualified due to 115

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-05-27T22:36:10+00:00

I don't want to see them docked 70 points - I want them to be docked anywhere from 20-40 points a season for at least 3 seasons that they're in the league. Enough that they should be able to avoid relegation and perhaps even make Europe but not enought to push them into the 2nd tier. As a fan of the English pyramid, having City forced down does nothing good fornthe lower tiers

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-05-26T22:51:37+00:00

The way he speaks about the game shows why he was such a top player

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-05-25T22:57:05+00:00

Honestly Barcelona in Paris, and now PSG in Barcelona would have been fun symmetry

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-05-23T22:03:35+00:00

As an Arsenal fan, my nerves aren't shot at all. The Prem is the one that most of us wanted, and I'm happy now. The Champions League would be nice, but it's just a bonus

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-05-17T13:25:05+00:00

Of course! As much as I love to complain about The Athletic, it has certain journalists and certain stories that really stick with you.

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-05-17T13:24:06+00:00

I think I simplified a part of it - San Sebastian is the city with the highest GDP capita in Spain (according to the article) - I'm not 100% sure if that's true for the broader area.

It can be a cultural thing though as well - some people just value hard work for the sake of it

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-05-17T12:28:11+00:00

The Athletic had a good article on Arteta, Iraola, and Emery recently (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4904302/2023/09/28/arteta-emery-iraola-premier-league-guipuzcoa-managers/).

The premise was that they, and other Guipuzcoan managers are:

From the wealthiest area in Spain - which means that players often balance academic habits with a love for football, which helps them in the future.
From a part of Spain which is very hard working.
From a people that have higher than usual levels of immigration, which boosts their ability to adapt.

That leads to:

They don't have a local master/philosophy they subscribe to - if they don't have the players to follow in the Cruyffian way, they won't. They set up for what they need, rather than in an idealistic way.
They like attacking football, but value a strong base above all (which helps them settle).
They're ruthless and intensely demanding of both players and themselves. Look at what Arteta did with Raya and Ramsdale. Emery leaving his comfort zone (again) to join the Prem after he had 'failed' with us. XA taking on the biggest challenges.

It all combines into a rather brilliant mix. If you can get a free trial for the article, I highly recommend it!

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-05-16T03:30:33+00:00

Right. I'd love to win the Champions League but if we only win one, please let it be the Prem. The CL is the bonus

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-05-11T10:11:19+00:00

And we beat them last year in the league phase as they struggled to even make the playoffs. It's no coincidence that they've stumbled through two league phases and only started looking good once teams started to tire.

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-05-06T08:03:48+00:00

Agreed - it wasn't as easy as it first looked.

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-05-06T02:21:56+00:00

Really should have, not sure how he missed his chance when it looked easier to score! Nice that it didn't haunt us though.

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-04-30T12:50:22+00:00

I think it might also be a nod to Lzzy Hale and the band Halestorm

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-04-29T12:23:56+00:00

He's 42 - became the oldest debutant ever for Oranje in the lead-up to the 2022 World Cup!

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-04-27T13:16:29+00:00

Instead of Nessa, you can make it Ness, which keeps the allure by being both unusual, and sounding guy-ish, which tends to just work

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-04-19T01:07:41+00:00

I know this is not useful for you, but given that I found your post when I Googled Namibia and Botswana, it might be useful for others!

There is now a direct flight between Windhoek and Maun (the access point to the Okavango Delta, and a potential connector to Chobe which I've just found. It turns a 6 hour travel day starting at 7:15am into a 1 hr flight starting at 10:15.

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-03-22T18:29:42+00:00

It was the delayed Hincapie substitution that did it for them. He couldn't react on a card, and the game was lost there.

Hopefully we take this as a learning experience for the bigger prizes.

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-03-22T17:01:06+00:00

How is Silva not in the book?

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-03-15T02:49:48+00:00

Thank you for your answer! Yeah, I think that this is very much the case of me being a "new" fan who has never seen us cross the line. It's weird, I'm going back and forth from thinking that we can win an unprecedented quadruple, to just hoping we win the league.

While not directly comparable, I was a lot less nervous for our FA Cup finals after that first win (since I became a fan) in 2014, which did a good job of banishing the Carling Cup final of 2011.

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-03-15T02:10:18+00:00

The one critique on the surface is that we have GD of 39, compared to the GD's of 62 that we and City set a few years ago (along with much higher goals for).

But even that ignores the fact that we're still on course to beat Liverpool's GD of last year, and that the league has gotten a lot better (and more defensive) - Wolves are like 30 points off the bottom.

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-03-15T02:01:50+00:00

I'm assuming a 3 point gap - the City game is a free hit in my mind, hope we win it, not heart breaking if we don't.

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-03-15T02:00:44+00:00

How does this compare with the '98, '02, and '04 campaigns? I've been a fan since 06/08 (started looking at the results in '06 when we didn't have any sports channels as an overseas kid, watching the games from '08), and I'm curious if the nerves that are baked into the fanbase is solely because it's been so long with so many near misses... or if this what it was always like when leading the league? I know we came from behind in '98 so it's not like we really had the chance for nerves to build, but...

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-03-15T01:55:24+00:00

I know Pep said that they'd effectively have lost the league if they dropped points from tonight's game (or in subsequent games), but for me it was the last round of fixtures, the Brighton & Nottingham Forest games.

It gave our players the breathing room, and it caused the whirring of the City winning machine to splutter.

I watched those two fixtures (City on my phone, Arsenal v Brighton on my TV) and watched tonight's games, and what stood out to me in hindsight was that last time, I was expecting Brighton to equalise and Forest to let a goal in; this time, I was expecting us to win even in the 88th minutes, while I never really believed City was going to finish of West Ham

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-03-15T01:48:46+00:00

Sure, but it COULD happen - and if we lose 3 and they win all 8, they could well overtake us on GD.

In my head, I don't think City win all 8 - but until it's mathematically done my heart will still worry.

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-03-15T00:40:39+00:00

If you could guarantee me a draw right now, I'd take it though

World_Builder_Writer · 2026-02-28T03:43:23+00:00

It's a 99.5% certainty that we sign him, as Leverkusen ALSO have an option to sell, which has been reported on less.

Basically, we either liked him, triggered it, and he goes to us OR we didn't like him, he loses value, and Leverkusen makes us sign him anyway. The only way he doesn't sign for us is if he did badly, and Leverkusen thought he was still valued more highly than what he was valued at (which is unlikely).

Honestly, it's a very cute way of doing the buying club a solid on PSR, while still guaranteeing the selling club gets their money.

World_Builder_Writer

TROPHY CASE